* We’ll know Monday morning which office Congressman Danny Davis will seek - reelection or Cook County Board President. From the Davis campaign…
Cong. Davis will announce his election decision at a press conference on Monday, November 9, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., at 3333 W. Arthington, Chicago.
* Democrat Alexi Giannoulias has a new Internet ad blasting Mark Kirk over Sarah Palin. The tagline is pretty good…
* Rep. Julie Hamos begins airing a new cable TV ad tomorrow. I think that makes her the first congressional candidate to go up. Anyway, rate it…
This is an initial cable buy of about $20K. Here are some details from a top source which were confirmed by the campaign…
$14,450 total for Comcast zones of Glenview, Highland Park and Mt Prospect; these zones encompass other towns as well and give good coverage in D10.
Additionally about $6,000 to WOW! Cable for their North zone that also has coverage in D10.
Bought CNN, Food, HGTV, MSNBC, TBS and USA Networks; all dayparts bought Flight is Sat 11/7 thru Mon 11/16
Script…
I’m Julie Hamos. The time has come for every American to have quality, affordable health care.
We finally have a chance to make that happen with a comprehensive package that includes a public option so that everyone has an affordable choice for health insurance, no matter what. We have to let Congress know that real health care reform demands a public option.
Let’s not let this moment in history pass us by.
I’m Julie Hamos and I approve this message because our fight for change is just beginning.
* Most unfortunate Tribune headline of the afternoon: “Quinn gets backing from former Blagojevich allies.” The story…
Gov. Pat Quinn got the endorsement today of several North Side Democratic leaders who once hailed and later feuded with his running mate and predecessor, Rod Blagojevich.
Among those supporting Quinn’s bid for the Democratic nomination in the Feb. 2 primary was Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), Blagojevich’s estranged father-in-law.
Others endorsing the governor today were Sen. Ira Silverstein and Reps. John Fritchey and Lou Lang. Fritchey is running for county board commissioner against former Ald. Ted Matlak.
*** UPDATE 1 *** And Dan Hynes has pounced. From a press release…
BLAGOJEVICH’S NUMBER 2 EARNS BLESSING OF BLAGOJEVICH’S NUMBER 1 PATRON The political muscle that gave IL Rod Blagojevich lines up behind Pat Quinn as questions persist about top aide’s resignation
CHICAGO – Pat Quinn, once a self-styled reformer, continued his gravitation toward ultimate political insider-dom today by accepting the endorsement of Alderman Dick Mell, the father-in-law and political patron of Rod Blagojevich, and a man synonymous with Chicago Machine politics. This comes on the heels of news that Quinn’s deputy chief of staff resigned abruptly last week, reportedly amid an investigation for doing political work on state time. Quinn has been mum on the affair. Dan Hynes for Governor campaign communications director Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“Today’s announcement, coupled with the deafening silence surrounding Carolyn Brown Hodge’s abrupt resignation, further cements what has become increasingly clear: Pat Quinn will say or do anything to cling to power, including embracing the Machine he once railed against. It would never even occur to us to seek the endorsement of the single individual most responsible for inflicting this state with Rod Blagojevich, let alone hold a press conference, but for Pat Quinn, it’s all in a day’s work. The rest of us are once again left to wonder about Pat Quinn’s true convictions and commitment to anything beyond his own election.”
Considering Hynes’ family ties, that’s quite a breathless press release, but whatever. At least he didn’t accuse Quinn of actually doing his job and twisting it into something bizarre, a la Quinn’s TV ad.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Quinn spokesperson Elizabeth Austin responds…
“Dan Hynes’ hypocrisy knows no bounds. He is a child of the old-time Chicago Machine and owes his entire career to his ward boss father. Without Machine backing and his father’s political muscle, how could he have won statewide office at the age of 28? Certainly not on the basis of his grassroots advocacy for ethical reform, consumer rights, and tax fairness.
“In September, when Comptroller Hynes appeared at the endorsement session of the Cook County Democrats, he spoke movingly of his pride in seeking — and accepting — their endorsements over the many years he has spent sitting behind the Comptroller’s desk. At that time, he shared his warm recollections of growing up in a ward office, learning about Machine politics at his father’s knee. Yet now, when the Democratic Party is embracing reform and putting state government back on track, he’s now Dan Hynes, the independent maverick?
“Just as they did in 2004, we expect Illinois Democratic voters to understand the difference between a second-generation ward politician and a true reformer who has devoted his entire life to standing up for everyday people against corrupt politicians, greedy utility companies, and corporate polluters. We know that the people of Illinois can tell a poll-driven career politician from someone who is, and has always been, the genuine article. “
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* Last night, all but one of the Republican gubernatorial candidates said Illinois should opt out of national healthcare if it’s passed by Congress. Unsurprisingly, Gov. Pat Quinn would be against opting out…
Gov. Pat Quinn says Illinois should not try to opt out of a national health care plan if one passes in Washington.
The Chicago Democrat says that would be the wrong way to go. […]
Quinn also said Friday that he disagrees with Republican Jim Ryan’s call to lower the minimum wage in Illinois by 75 cents. Ryan says that would help make Illinois more competitive economically.
* Democratic US Senate candidate David Hoffman has a new banking plan. From a press release…
Hoffman’s plan will protect consumers by creating a separate, independent Federal Consumer Protection Agency, which will enforce consumer protection laws to prevent abuse by lenders; putting a stop to predatory lending practices by establishing a standard national usury rate for consumer credit transactions; using federal stimulus funds to provide affordable small business loans, and allowing judicial modification of home mortgages to protect principle residences during bankruptcy.
That is a great piece by Rauschenberger. I typically disagree with him, but no one can say he does not know the budget.
The ad would be even better if he was running for governor, an elected office that would really give him a chance to advance many of the things he discusses. He would easily outshine the group that is currently running.
The stimulus dollars for small business loans won’t change anything if the regulatory situation doesn’t change- these companies are not cash flowing and are asking for asset based lending- banks portfolios are out of whack and can not take on more asset based loans- when equipment is trading at pennies on the dollar- it just isn’t a good bet- and banks are a A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS. They answer to share holders too. THis press release is fluffy and speaks tot he pain but like most- has no real weight towards solving the problem. The SBA- which guarentees loans 90% reduced their rate and eliminated their fees- and you STILL can’t find a bank to lend.
Noland would be having kittens if this rauschenberger add was on real cable or TV. I don’t think a “web” video gets a state senate candidate much traction. Steve does not look like he has slowed for a minutes but it was shocking to see that he went over 2 minutes without smoking.
Very strong video by Steve R. Lots of solid details on why he wants to do what he wants to do. Excellent focus on “jobs” without seeming repetitive.
Really well done video, whoever did it is a real pro.
Let’s all confess, we know he’d be a great governor. Too bad he wasn’t Rod’s LT when he was impeached.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:48 pm:
re:CONGRESSMAN Davis
i predict that danny davis will run for another term in congress.
re: hamos
i give the julie hamos ad a B+ (she should’ve worn a dark and more bold color like cobalt or navy blue, rather than a pastel. she looked a little washed out. my rating is actually based on the substance/content of the ad more so than its style/asthetics)
re: alexi g AD
i rate it an A. it’s hard hitting, and under the circumstances that is the fair and appropriate thing to do. unlike the quinn camp, i don’t expect kirk to whine that he’s being hit too hard. kirk will just have to take these truthful and brutal attack ads on the chin, just as the quinn camp should have taken hynes’ attack ads.
re: quinn
congrats to governor quinn on his endorsements. is this all of the regular dems now?
re: hoffman
if you make it to the senate, try getting on a committee first.
re: rauschenberger
i rate his ad an A. solid and strong effort in both appearance and context. he articulates the issues of job and economy well. others may not, but i like the lecture style of his ad because he’s thinking as he speaks; thinking on his feet, even if he did “memorize his lines”. that’s better than sitting stiff and reading from a teleprompter. his hand gestures as he is sitting anfd talking show that he is engaged and believes in what he saying. he comes across as totally believable. i felt like he was talking to me, not at me.
Alexi can do all the palin bashing he wants, when the blago bomb explodes next year and voters look at another immature chicago democrat with great hair, a sketchy past, a long last name, the proverbial —-will hit the fan.
Hamos I’ve learned is a former lobbyist and is a sitting duck that I’d love to see get through to republican snipers. We learned in new jersey and virginia and down ballot races in pennsylvania and new york (westchester county is basically wilmette and glencoe) in wealthy socially liberal suburbs that the tide is turning against democrats for the first time in 15 years now that bush and gingrich are gone.
I also continue to be stunned by the arrogance of democrats like her and jackson that think voters will overlook their ties to insiders given the theatrics of the last 2 years.
I don’t think it is possible to underestimate how much the Palin matter is going to hurt Kirk. As long as Alexi keeps running ads like that, voters will think the race is is Palin/Kirk v. Obama/Alexi. That Alexi ad is just devasting. Kirk did the double flip — for her, against her, for her. Any chance he’s going to turn on her and go for the triple?
He is on Ways and Means, the crown jewel of committees. But he’s not chair of anything, not even a subcommtittee. Given how senior he is, that is a bit odd.
Maybe he would like to be a huge fish in a smaller pond, rather than a big fish in a huge pond?
given the weeks events it was a poor choice of words. My apologies.
It is however worth a post of the events this week that took place in bergen county, fairfax county. and westchester county where Republicans rose for the first time in 15 years and did well in socially moderate areas. For those of us struggling behind enemy lines like team america, louis, and I in the formerly red areas of the chicago burbs, it’s good to see the party rising again and great news for Kirk’s senate campaign.
Politico also noted that a former bush/delay/VPOTUS COS libby staffer won a state rep race in a very pro-choice fiscal moderate district in virginia suggesting that contrary to the hopes and dreams of democrat strategists everywhere, america has moved past bush.
I wonder whether Alexi knows that one of the definitions for a rogue is “a vicious and solitary elephant that has separated itself from its herd”? (I kid you not.)
I see alexi has jumped on Kirks Palin issue. I think Kirk may be able to log that decision the same way McCain did, as the death of his campaign. The key winning a statewide election in IL has never been the extreme right.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:14 pm:
Skeptical cynic,
kahn’s pitch was a bit higher. They both have a drone quality to their voices, well one had that quality anyway. In a roundabout way I get where you are coming from.
The Giannoulais ad is effective because it uses Rich Miller’s quote about Kirk and continues with that theme. It is an anti-Palin ad to boot, but makes Kirk look like he, what did you say Rich?
Hamos is running on the unpopular public option? Where has she been? I guess she is trying to get the 2008 vote to turn out in the 2010 Democratic primary. And yeah, she has a lisp, but not any worse than her ideological buddy in the US House, Barney Franks.
Rauschenberger’s ad sounds like my dad playing one of his Mannheim Steamroller albums in the basement. And how could this guy be serious when he looks and speaks like he is discussing which carpeting matched the fireplace behind him? We’re at the bottom of the jobs barrel, and he is talking to us like were shopping for ferns? If I walked into this room, heard him and saw this crowd, I would have thought I walked into a presentation on golf carts.
But give Rauschenberger this credit - I saw people in this little film who weren’t white. For an Illinois GOPer, that’s either accidental or incredibly insightful. Hello! Paging Bill Brady!
The Giannoulias ad is very, very good. The Palin/Kirk dustup may persist and it may not, but you’ve got to seize something like this when you can, and they do.
The Hamos ad is nice. It’s curiously lacking in any bio, odd considering she’s starting out with basically no name ID. But a good message to a primary electorate, and she’s a good messenger.
The Rauschenberger ad is really good. It’s upbeat and positive, and he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. It’s better than anything anyone running for gov on the GOP side is putting out.
The lesson from virginia and new jersey is that social issues don’t matter anymore. even the tea party chief admitted, dick armey, that this revolt was not a social one, it’s an economic one and if that’s the case that has always been the way the gop cleans up in the suburbs.
“But more telling is what is not on its list of concerns — abortion, gay marriage and other social issues. To some degree, Armey’s new prominence signals the rise of economic conservatives in the Republican Party — and a decline in influence of the religious right. “Even in our office, we’ve got people on different sides of the abortion issue, on all the social issues,” Brandon said. “The point is we stay away from it. It’s not what we do.””
if we had a media in chicago (rich, paul green kass, berkowitz, aside) that gave understanding the gop as much attention as say, the white house social secretary they might understand why democrats are facing awful prospects next year in the suburbs.
“Hamos is running on the unpopular public option? Where has she been?”
1) It’s a Dem primary.
2) Polls show majority support for a public option. CNN poll has it at 55%.
And as to the Kirk/Palin deal - I’d rather be told that one of the candidates tried to make a date with Sarah Palin, than being told that one of the candidates slept with Rod Blagojevich.
Can I say that? “Slept”? OK - then I’ll just call them “bunk buddies”. Is that better?
Steve knows his stuff, but is he walking precincts?! I hope so. The Palin flap is a made up story…who cares? Kirk is no Palin. Julie is on the wrong side of the Public Option issue in the general…even in the 10th.
The State-Journal Register’s “The Dome” got the Quinn endorsements right on a Tweet:
“Quinn gets backing of Blagojevich foes”
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:57 pm:
At least Rauschie understands this election is about jobs, but in 2 minutes and 19 seconds he didn’t offer a single, specific solution.
The folks who rely on the internet for information expect just that, not platitudes.
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:58 pm:
Let me get this straight, we have Republicans campaigning for governor on a platform of:
1) You folks need to earn less money.
2) You folks don’t need health insurance.
I know the actual ideas are much more nuanced, but this will be great stuff for the Democrats to use next fall.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:58 pm:
When reporters interview a politican for a story do they tell him or her the headline they intend to use or have used before the story gets published?
The headline on the quinn endorsement article doesn’t make him look good at all, and he comes across as naive in the article. Or maybe is he just spinning? It’s a good article and the headline is certainly fitting and truthful.
It’s one for annals.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:01 pm:
If I were Davis, I’d announce I’m running for re-election to Congress, and maybe even endorse Preckwinkle while I’m at it.
“The fight for affordable health care for every Chicagoan, every Illinoisan, every American is just too important for me to turn my back on,” Davis said.
Alexi criticizing Kirk is like a child criticizing an adult for financial decisions. While the child looks young, sounds good, and is likeable, the child has no experience and has no idea what they are talking about. Alexi needs to hold another office first before state senate. we have too many inexperienced people in washington, we don’t need another.
I believe that 57% of Democrats support a public option, so Hamos is singing to them. On the other hand I don’t see anyone claiming that 80% of those who say they are satisfied with their health care currently, are eager to wreck it in an experiment operated by a government unable to do anything right.
I think Health Care is like #8 on the top ten list of election issues right now. Hamos has to be singing to the choir on this in order to get a primary win.
- Bring Back Boone's - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:36 pm:
Rauschy ad looks flat and tacky. Where’s the beef, and what’s with the cheesy music?
The doc, I actually have major issues with kirk on things like the surge, the ridiculous amounts of time he wastes on bangladeshi human rights activists and his failure to build a better gop in our area.
The maine referendum was its own deal. I was referring to the fact that the dude in va didn’t use gay marriage or gays in the military (a review of which is pending before the senate) to turnout voters in the general as the gop has done in the past there.
Shore, I suppose my point is that Kirk can no longer brand himself a moderate in any sense of the word, if, as you say, social issues are no longer material to voters. That is what you indicated, yes?
Absent the inflammatory rhetoric, he’s indistinguishable from any other red meat GOP candidate. And again, I say that as someone who’s punched a ballot for him in the past.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 4:10 pm:
@ Obamarama
sure, you were likely to vote for Mike Madigan’s daughter had she run for governor, and her father is ACTUALLY (actively) involved in state politics. so….
So Danny-Boy Hynes is pouting over Dick Mell’s endorsementof Governor Quinn. What a hypocrite! As if he wouldn’t have run over anyone and everyone to have gotten that endorsement himself.
Danny-Boy, you have got 88 days and a few hours to write yourself a humdinger of a concession speech. It’s time to get to work on it!
Wow from Team Hynes…Do you really want to bring family ties into it??? Given that your father was Mayor Daley the first’s top henchman who rigged the property tax rates as assesor so the Irish wards paid less and everyone else(especially the African American) wards got screwed. Remember…that helped launch Harold Washington???
As usual, Steve R is very, very good. He understands and he can explain in terms people understand. There ought to be a place in Illinois government for a guy this bright and this hard-working.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Quinn spokesperson Elizabeth Austin responds…
Hynes walked right into that one. Easy lay-up for the Quinn camp.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 9:03 pm:
Ok. so, Hynes’ father was a part of the old vanguard of the democratic party, of which some vestiges still exist in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois politics.
By implication the Quinn camp seems to suggest something sinister about adult children who follow in their pol parent footsteps.
Surely the Quinn camp does not believe that Mayor Richard M. Daley or Lisa Madigan or Daniel Burke or Daniel Lipinski or Emil Jones III etc. should not have gone into politics, do they? Or they they haven’t earned their stripes, right?
I think it is unfortunate that the Quinn camp is attacking Hynes’ family. Quinn is so much better than that. if Quinn’s adults sons decide one day to pursue political careers, would that be so wrong. I don’t think so. And, I’m guessing quinn would be proud to know that one or both of his sons were so inspired by him and his political career. And, rightfully so because for much of his career Quinn has been a hardworking and diligent public servant.
So, I for one don’t understand why the quinn camp begrudges adult children following in their parent’s political footsteps.
Steve Rauschenberger is probably one of the brightest guys who is running. He has always had the intellect, the integrity, and the enthusiasm but he has always lacked the necessary cash to cross the finish line whenever he ran for elected office. That which he was deficient in (cash) was probably a result of one of those character traits that he has in abundance (integrity). But, I digress. Sorry.
The Rauschenberger ad is “too long” in duration to hold people’s attention. Cut the length of it in half and then it would be “okay”. The voters are saturated with the knowledge that Illinois is at the bottom for job creation or keeping employers in Illinois. Tell us something that we don’t know.
Voters want to have a candidate who will come off of the blocks “smokin” with new facts, solid and succinct solutions to our current problems, and we want a candidate that isn’t afraid to “name the names” of those who are responsible for being “enablers” to guys like Blagojevich anfd George Ryan. Don’t keep hanging the sign “I did it” around the neck of George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich, and George Bush. We don’t want hear that you “inherited” a terrible situation. Where were you when you were running for this office? Did you “just realize” what you were getting yourself into? If so, you are a greater idiot than we probably have already labeled you as. Voters are looking for “Leaders with a backbone” who aren’t afraid to use the bully pulpit to spew “fire & brimstone” sermons when required (and as we lose our homes and jobs, now we sure know that it is required). Name names, don’t jab your finger up in the air and spout off partisan bullsh## , instead jab a stick up the a## of those that you know are responsible for our potentially fatal malady. Be ” a Leader” and you will get legions of Illinois voters that will pick up a sword and follow you into battle on Election Day. The clock is ticking down. We need a William Wallace and not another “Morty Milktoast” for our next Illinois Governor and Congressman in Washington. We don’t want anymore guys down in Springfield that “See no evil-Hear no evil-Speak no evil”. Tell it like it is and forget Reagan’s “Sermon from the Mount” on the eleventh commandment. Tell it like it is.
Really inappropriate for people to say they don’t like a candidate’s accent. That diminishes them, not the candidate, but Rich should not allow it here. Perhaps these posters don’t like her country of origin either?
That Trib headline pointing to Rod’s allies is cheap and unfortunate.
The Trib story under the headline names precisely two individuals other than Quinn - Mell and Fritchey. It correctly notes that Mell is “estranged” from Rod (indeed, Mell and Rod had their big falling out about five years ago), and that Fritchey was one of Rod’s most vocal critics.
So who exactly is the Rod ally whose endorsement of Quinn warranted that headline? Some mystery person whose name wasn’t worth mentioning in the story?
I know newspapers are always looking for a good drama to try and get their readers excited, but this an instance where the drama portrayed in the headline appears to be a fiction not in the least bit supported by the content of the story.
It’s just one more smack back in the face of the region’s biggest newspaper so desperate for relevancy.
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:28 pm:
I’ve been trying to fathom what Danny K. Davis hoped to gain by staying in both races this far along.
At one point he was making it difficult for Preckwinkle to get commitments of support. But that doesn’t seem true anymore.
If anybody has any good theories on what Davis is trying to accomplish or what he’s trying to trade for, please post them.
- Montrose - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:34 pm:
That is a great piece by Rauschenberger. I typically disagree with him, but no one can say he does not know the budget.
The ad would be even better if he was running for governor, an elected office that would really give him a chance to advance many of the things he discusses. He would easily outshine the group that is currently running.
- Inish - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:38 pm:
The stimulus dollars for small business loans won’t change anything if the regulatory situation doesn’t change- these companies are not cash flowing and are asking for asset based lending- banks portfolios are out of whack and can not take on more asset based loans- when equipment is trading at pennies on the dollar- it just isn’t a good bet- and banks are a A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS. They answer to share holders too. THis press release is fluffy and speaks tot he pain but like most- has no real weight towards solving the problem. The SBA- which guarentees loans 90% reduced their rate and eliminated their fees- and you STILL can’t find a bank to lend.
- WOW - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:46 pm:
Noland would be having kittens if this rauschenberger add was on real cable or TV. I don’t think a “web” video gets a state senate candidate much traction. Steve does not look like he has slowed for a minutes but it was shocking to see that he went over 2 minutes without smoking.
- Pat collins - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:47 pm:
Very strong video by Steve R. Lots of solid details on why he wants to do what he wants to do. Excellent focus on “jobs” without seeming repetitive.
Really well done video, whoever did it is a real pro.
Let’s all confess, we know he’d be a great governor. Too bad he wasn’t Rod’s LT when he was impeached.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:48 pm:
re:CONGRESSMAN Davis
i predict that danny davis will run for another term in congress.
re: hamos
i give the julie hamos ad a B+ (she should’ve worn a dark and more bold color like cobalt or navy blue, rather than a pastel. she looked a little washed out. my rating is actually based on the substance/content of the ad more so than its style/asthetics)
re: alexi g AD
i rate it an A. it’s hard hitting, and under the circumstances that is the fair and appropriate thing to do. unlike the quinn camp, i don’t expect kirk to whine that he’s being hit too hard. kirk will just have to take these truthful and brutal attack ads on the chin, just as the quinn camp should have taken hynes’ attack ads.
re: quinn
congrats to governor quinn on his endorsements. is this all of the regular dems now?
re: hoffman
if you make it to the senate, try getting on a committee first.
re: rauschenberger
i rate his ad an A. solid and strong effort in both appearance and context. he articulates the issues of job and economy well. others may not, but i like the lecture style of his ad because he’s thinking as he speaks; thinking on his feet, even if he did “memorize his lines”. that’s better than sitting stiff and reading from a teleprompter. his hand gestures as he is sitting anfd talking show that he is engaged and believes in what he saying. he comes across as totally believable. i felt like he was talking to me, not at me.
- shore - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:54 pm:
Alexi can do all the palin bashing he wants, when the blago bomb explodes next year and voters look at another immature chicago democrat with great hair, a sketchy past, a long last name, the proverbial —-will hit the fan.
Hamos I’ve learned is a former lobbyist and is a sitting duck that I’d love to see get through to republican snipers. We learned in new jersey and virginia and down ballot races in pennsylvania and new york (westchester county is basically wilmette and glencoe) in wealthy socially liberal suburbs that the tide is turning against democrats for the first time in 15 years now that bush and gingrich are gone.
I also continue to be stunned by the arrogance of democrats like her and jackson that think voters will overlook their ties to insiders given the theatrics of the last 2 years.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:55 pm:
===republican snipers===
Try to avoid phrases like that in the future, please. Really, really inappropriate.
- OdysseusVL - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 1:59 pm:
I don’t think it is possible to underestimate how much the Palin matter is going to hurt Kirk. As long as Alexi keeps running ads like that, voters will think the race is is Palin/Kirk v. Obama/Alexi. That Alexi ad is just devasting. Kirk did the double flip — for her, against her, for her. Any chance he’s going to turn on her and go for the triple?
- Pat collins - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:05 pm:
Cong. Davis
He is on Ways and Means, the crown jewel of committees. But he’s not chair of anything, not even a subcommtittee. Given how senior he is, that is a bit odd.
Maybe he would like to be a huge fish in a smaller pond, rather than a big fish in a huge pond?
- Skeptical Cynic - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:07 pm:
Is it just me or does Julie Hamos accent sound like the Madeline Kahn character in Blazing Saddles?
- shore - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:11 pm:
given the weeks events it was a poor choice of words. My apologies.
It is however worth a post of the events this week that took place in bergen county, fairfax county. and westchester county where Republicans rose for the first time in 15 years and did well in socially moderate areas. For those of us struggling behind enemy lines like team america, louis, and I in the formerly red areas of the chicago burbs, it’s good to see the party rising again and great news for Kirk’s senate campaign.
Politico also noted that a former bush/delay/VPOTUS COS libby staffer won a state rep race in a very pro-choice fiscal moderate district in virginia suggesting that contrary to the hopes and dreams of democrat strategists everywhere, america has moved past bush.
- Anonymous - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:12 pm:
I wonder whether Alexi knows that one of the definitions for a rogue is “a vicious and solitary elephant that has separated itself from its herd”? (I kid you not.)
That should appeal to at least the Indies. lol
- Ghost - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:14 pm:
I see alexi has jumped on Kirks Palin issue. I think Kirk may be able to log that decision the same way McCain did, as the death of his campaign. The key winning a statewide election in IL has never been the extreme right.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:14 pm:
Skeptical cynic,
kahn’s pitch was a bit higher. They both have a drone quality to their voices, well one had that quality anyway. In a roundabout way I get where you are coming from.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:24 pm:
The Giannoulais ad is effective because it uses Rich Miller’s quote about Kirk and continues with that theme. It is an anti-Palin ad to boot, but makes Kirk look like he, what did you say Rich?
Hamos is running on the unpopular public option? Where has she been? I guess she is trying to get the 2008 vote to turn out in the 2010 Democratic primary. And yeah, she has a lisp, but not any worse than her ideological buddy in the US House, Barney Franks.
Rauschenberger’s ad sounds like my dad playing one of his Mannheim Steamroller albums in the basement. And how could this guy be serious when he looks and speaks like he is discussing which carpeting matched the fireplace behind him? We’re at the bottom of the jobs barrel, and he is talking to us like were shopping for ferns? If I walked into this room, heard him and saw this crowd, I would have thought I walked into a presentation on golf carts.
But give Rauschenberger this credit - I saw people in this little film who weren’t white. For an Illinois GOPer, that’s either accidental or incredibly insightful. Hello! Paging Bill Brady!
- JonShibleyFan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:24 pm:
The Giannoulias ad is very, very good. The Palin/Kirk dustup may persist and it may not, but you’ve got to seize something like this when you can, and they do.
The Hamos ad is nice. It’s curiously lacking in any bio, odd considering she’s starting out with basically no name ID. But a good message to a primary electorate, and she’s a good messenger.
The Rauschenberger ad is really good. It’s upbeat and positive, and he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. It’s better than anything anyone running for gov on the GOP side is putting out.
- shore - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:26 pm:
The lesson from virginia and new jersey is that social issues don’t matter anymore. even the tea party chief admitted, dick armey, that this revolt was not a social one, it’s an economic one and if that’s the case that has always been the way the gop cleans up in the suburbs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/magazine/08Armey-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine
“But more telling is what is not on its list of concerns — abortion, gay marriage and other social issues. To some degree, Armey’s new prominence signals the rise of economic conservatives in the Republican Party — and a decline in influence of the religious right. “Even in our office, we’ve got people on different sides of the abortion issue, on all the social issues,” Brandon said. “The point is we stay away from it. It’s not what we do.””
if we had a media in chicago (rich, paul green kass, berkowitz, aside) that gave understanding the gop as much attention as say, the white house social secretary they might understand why democrats are facing awful prospects next year in the suburbs.
- Montrose - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:29 pm:
++Hamos is running on the unpopular public option?++
VM - What non-partisan poll have you seen that shows it is unpopular in her district?
- JonShibleyFan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:30 pm:
“Hamos is running on the unpopular public option? Where has she been?”
1) It’s a Dem primary.
2) Polls show majority support for a public option. CNN poll has it at 55%.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:31 pm:
And as to the Kirk/Palin deal - I’d rather be told that one of the candidates tried to make a date with Sarah Palin, than being told that one of the candidates slept with Rod Blagojevich.
Can I say that? “Slept”? OK - then I’ll just call them “bunk buddies”. Is that better?
- VanillaMan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:32 pm:
CNN poll has it at 55%.
LOL! CNN! Like they’d know!
- GOP - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:37 pm:
Steve knows his stuff, but is he walking precincts?! I hope so. The Palin flap is a made up story…who cares? Kirk is no Palin. Julie is on the wrong side of the Public Option issue in the general…even in the 10th.
- JonShibleyFan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:44 pm:
“Like they’d know! ”
The old “attack the poll I don’t like defense.”
Or is it the tried and true “Librul media” defense.
Whatever.
- Lakefront Liberal - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:46 pm:
Isn’t Hoffman’s new banking plan the same thing that Chris Dodd just announced?
- The Doc - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:47 pm:
==The lesson from virginia and new jersey is that social issues don’t matter anymore==
You can’t have it both ways, Shore. Didn’t you mention about the Maine gay marriage amendment on a completely unrelated post yesterday?
Your constant spin is making me dizzy. We know, Kirk is wonderful.
- David Ormsby - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:48 pm:
The State-Journal Register’s “The Dome” got the Quinn endorsements right on a Tweet:
“Quinn gets backing of Blagojevich foes”
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:57 pm:
At least Rauschie understands this election is about jobs, but in 2 minutes and 19 seconds he didn’t offer a single, specific solution.
The folks who rely on the internet for information expect just that, not platitudes.
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:58 pm:
Let me get this straight, we have Republicans campaigning for governor on a platform of:
1) You folks need to earn less money.
2) You folks don’t need health insurance.
I know the actual ideas are much more nuanced, but this will be great stuff for the Democrats to use next fall.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 2:58 pm:
When reporters interview a politican for a story do they tell him or her the headline they intend to use or have used before the story gets published?
The headline on the quinn endorsement article doesn’t make him look good at all, and he comes across as naive in the article. Or maybe is he just spinning? It’s a good article and the headline is certainly fitting and truthful.
It’s one for annals.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:01 pm:
If I were Davis, I’d announce I’m running for re-election to Congress, and maybe even endorse Preckwinkle while I’m at it.
“The fight for affordable health care for every Chicagoan, every Illinoisan, every American is just too important for me to turn my back on,” Davis said.
- Amalia - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:02 pm:
hamos accent….she’s from Hungary.
- Lakefront Liberal - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:06 pm:
VM:
A Washington Post-ABC News poll from October 20 showed 57% support a public option.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902451.html
An NBC/Wall Street Journal survey conducted Oct. 22-25 had 48% in supporting a government-run plan to compete with private insurers and 42 percent opposing it.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/10/poll_support_gr.html
An October CBS News Poll showed 62 percent in favor of a public option with 31% opposed.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/20/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5401123.shtml
- fred former anon - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:16 pm:
Alexi criticizing Kirk is like a child criticizing an adult for financial decisions. While the child looks young, sounds good, and is likeable, the child has no experience and has no idea what they are talking about. Alexi needs to hold another office first before state senate. we have too many inexperienced people in washington, we don’t need another.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:28 pm:
I believe that 57% of Democrats support a public option, so Hamos is singing to them. On the other hand I don’t see anyone claiming that 80% of those who say they are satisfied with their health care currently, are eager to wreck it in an experiment operated by a government unable to do anything right.
I think Health Care is like #8 on the top ten list of election issues right now. Hamos has to be singing to the choir on this in order to get a primary win.
- Bring Back Boone's - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:36 pm:
Rauschy ad looks flat and tacky. Where’s the beef, and what’s with the cheesy music?
- JonShibleyFan - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:37 pm:
“I believe that 57% of Democrats…”
Your belief vs. quantitative data.
Opinion vs. data.
Partisan instinct vs. well, still data.
Fred, that is as tortured a metaphor as I’ve read in some time.
- west 10th dem - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:39 pm:
You know Hamos is hurting on Name recognition when it has her name on the ad for 29.5 of its 30 second running time.
- shore - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:47 pm:
The doc, I actually have major issues with kirk on things like the surge, the ridiculous amounts of time he wastes on bangladeshi human rights activists and his failure to build a better gop in our area.
The maine referendum was its own deal. I was referring to the fact that the dude in va didn’t use gay marriage or gays in the military (a review of which is pending before the senate) to turnout voters in the general as the gop has done in the past there.
- Obamarama - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:56 pm:
Yeah… Quinn is too close to the Chicago Dem Machine. I think I will vote for Tom Hynes’ son instead. Wait, what?
- The Doc - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 3:59 pm:
Shore, I suppose my point is that Kirk can no longer brand himself a moderate in any sense of the word, if, as you say, social issues are no longer material to voters. That is what you indicated, yes?
Absent the inflammatory rhetoric, he’s indistinguishable from any other red meat GOP candidate. And again, I say that as someone who’s punched a ballot for him in the past.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 4:10 pm:
@ Obamarama
sure, you were likely to vote for Mike Madigan’s daughter had she run for governor, and her father is ACTUALLY (actively) involved in state politics. so….
- P. - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 4:14 pm:
Health care is No. 8 in terms of election issues?! You are way off on that one.
- WOW - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 4:23 pm:
Have Hynes campaign staffers even met Dan Hynes or have any idea who he is or what his family has done?
- fedup dem - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 4:38 pm:
So Danny-Boy Hynes is pouting over Dick Mell’s endorsementof Governor Quinn. What a hypocrite! As if he wouldn’t have run over anyone and everyone to have gotten that endorsement himself.
Danny-Boy, you have got 88 days and a few hours to write yourself a humdinger of a concession speech. It’s time to get to work on it!
- Anonymous - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 5:01 pm:
Wow from Team Hynes…Do you really want to bring family ties into it??? Given that your father was Mayor Daley the first’s top henchman who rigged the property tax rates as assesor so the Irish wards paid less and everyone else(especially the African American) wards got screwed. Remember…that helped launch Harold Washington???
- steve schnorf - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 7:07 pm:
As usual, Steve R is very, very good. He understands and he can explain in terms people understand. There ought to be a place in Illinois government for a guy this bright and this hard-working.
- SweetLou - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 7:38 pm:
*** UPDATE 2 *** Quinn spokesperson Elizabeth Austin responds…
Hynes walked right into that one. Easy lay-up for the Quinn camp.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 6, 09 @ 9:03 pm:
Ok. so, Hynes’ father was a part of the old vanguard of the democratic party, of which some vestiges still exist in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois politics.
By implication the Quinn camp seems to suggest something sinister about adult children who follow in their pol parent footsteps.
Surely the Quinn camp does not believe that Mayor Richard M. Daley or Lisa Madigan or Daniel Burke or Daniel Lipinski or Emil Jones III etc. should not have gone into politics, do they? Or they they haven’t earned their stripes, right?
I think it is unfortunate that the Quinn camp is attacking Hynes’ family. Quinn is so much better than that. if Quinn’s adults sons decide one day to pursue political careers, would that be so wrong. I don’t think so. And, I’m guessing quinn would be proud to know that one or both of his sons were so inspired by him and his political career. And, rightfully so because for much of his career Quinn has been a hardworking and diligent public servant.
So, I for one don’t understand why the quinn camp begrudges adult children following in their parent’s political footsteps.
- The Prophet - Saturday, Nov 7, 09 @ 2:05 pm:
Steve Rauschenberger is probably one of the brightest guys who is running. He has always had the intellect, the integrity, and the enthusiasm but he has always lacked the necessary cash to cross the finish line whenever he ran for elected office. That which he was deficient in (cash) was probably a result of one of those character traits that he has in abundance (integrity). But, I digress. Sorry.
The Rauschenberger ad is “too long” in duration to hold people’s attention. Cut the length of it in half and then it would be “okay”. The voters are saturated with the knowledge that Illinois is at the bottom for job creation or keeping employers in Illinois. Tell us something that we don’t know.
Voters want to have a candidate who will come off of the blocks “smokin” with new facts, solid and succinct solutions to our current problems, and we want a candidate that isn’t afraid to “name the names” of those who are responsible for being “enablers” to guys like Blagojevich anfd George Ryan. Don’t keep hanging the sign “I did it” around the neck of George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich, and George Bush. We don’t want hear that you “inherited” a terrible situation. Where were you when you were running for this office? Did you “just realize” what you were getting yourself into? If so, you are a greater idiot than we probably have already labeled you as. Voters are looking for “Leaders with a backbone” who aren’t afraid to use the bully pulpit to spew “fire & brimstone” sermons when required (and as we lose our homes and jobs, now we sure know that it is required). Name names, don’t jab your finger up in the air and spout off partisan bullsh## , instead jab a stick up the a## of those that you know are responsible for our potentially fatal malady. Be ” a Leader” and you will get legions of Illinois voters that will pick up a sword and follow you into battle on Election Day. The clock is ticking down. We need a William Wallace and not another “Morty Milktoast” for our next Illinois Governor and Congressman in Washington. We don’t want anymore guys down in Springfield that “See no evil-Hear no evil-Speak no evil”. Tell it like it is and forget Reagan’s “Sermon from the Mount” on the eleventh commandment. Tell it like it is.
- Don M. - Sunday, Nov 8, 09 @ 9:51 am:
Really inappropriate for people to say they don’t like a candidate’s accent. That diminishes them, not the candidate, but Rich should not allow it here. Perhaps these posters don’t like her country of origin either?
- Coach - Sunday, Nov 8, 09 @ 7:20 pm:
That Trib headline pointing to Rod’s allies is cheap and unfortunate.
The Trib story under the headline names precisely two individuals other than Quinn - Mell and Fritchey. It correctly notes that Mell is “estranged” from Rod (indeed, Mell and Rod had their big falling out about five years ago), and that Fritchey was one of Rod’s most vocal critics.
So who exactly is the Rod ally whose endorsement of Quinn warranted that headline? Some mystery person whose name wasn’t worth mentioning in the story?
I know newspapers are always looking for a good drama to try and get their readers excited, but this an instance where the drama portrayed in the headline appears to be a fiction not in the least bit supported by the content of the story.
It’s just one more smack back in the face of the region’s biggest newspaper so desperate for relevancy.